Stanley Lawson Sr., who led the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP for more than a decade, died Tuesday surrounded by family at age 84.

Lawson broke barriers for Black people in Harrisburg and was committed to advancing civil rights in the city and beyond, according to his obituary which noted he was a “devoted son, father, public servant and community leader whose life’s work was dedicated to equality, justice and serving others.”

Before Lawson’s five-decade career in public service, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1964, during the Vietnam War. The Harrisburg native was the first Black man elected to Harrisburg City Council in 1969 and eventually served as the vice president in the 1970s. He was also the first Black man on the Susquehanna Township Board of Commissioners, the first Bl

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